Cheyney women drop another home game

THORNBURY –- It’s been an awful long time since the Cheyney women have walked off their home court in Cope Hall with a basketball victory. The last time, in fact, came back in early February of 2011 against East Stroudsburg.

Since then, the Wolves have dropped 26 in a row in front of their fans, including a 76-45 setback to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference power Millersville on Wednesday.

“We have two more home games, so it’s not over yet,” said CU head coach Marilyn Stephens. “We just want to get another win – home or away – and finish this season strong.”

For a significant chunk of the action on Wednesday, Cheyney (1-17, 1-20) was actually quite competitive against the Marauders, who currently share the PSAC East lead at 13-5 (16-6 overall). And in some ways, it was the Wolves’ best outing since they ended a 47-game skid in late January at Mansfield.

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The shooting percentage (32.0) wasn’t good, but it was better than Cheyney’s season average (28.6). And the same is true with turnovers. The Wolves coughed it up 23 times, but average 28.7.

Inconsistency at the offensive end has been an issue throughout the season, and was once again in this one. But the most surprising statistic came on the glass, where Millersville was plus-22. In its two previous games, CU averaged 51 rebounds and 25 offensive boards. On Wednesday, the Wolves grabbed just 33 and 10.

“The girls hung in there, but you have to control the boards if you want to win,” Stephens said. “The message to the team is that everyone has to box out.

“We had been rebounding the ball so well lately. So it is surprising to me. This was the worst we’ve rebounded all season.”

The consistency issue was on full display in the opening 20 minutes. The Wolves scored 12 points in the opening six minutes of action, and were hanging with the Marauders. But over the next 14 minutes, CU managed just 11 points, and fell behind 34-23 at the half.

And when Millersville scored the first six of the second half to open a 17-point margin, it was essentially over.

Freshman forward Kyra Hines-Allen led the way with 15 points, but the other four starters shot 2-for-16 collectively, and scored a combined 10 points. Nicole Tyndale chipped in 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards off the bench for Cheyney.